The Crochet Crowd Goes to Greenbrier Resort for Retreat
- Michael Sellick
- May 25
- 7 min read
The Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia was the location of the mystery crochet retreat in May 2025. This was booked nearly two years in advance as the second and final mystery retreat for The Crochet Crowd. I will share at the end why it's the last mystery retreat.
Guests for the mystery nearly booked out the mystery in the summer of 2023 for May 2025. Crocheters aren't told where the retreat is, and once booked, they would receive one clue each month until the month before. Some clues are location pinpoints, while others are red herrings, meaning fake clues to pass them off but are somewhat related.
Increased Cancellations
With the uprising of tariffs with the USA in Winter and Spring 2025, we lost nearly every Canadian that had booked, taking us from 60 guests to a finishing number of 43 by the end. Canadians are being advised not to travel to the United States and are concerned about interrogation at the border. With friction and concerns about going into the United States, it added a layer of tension leading to this retreat. It's not something we would have known two years into the future.
As a Canadian, Daniel and I didn't experience anything abnormal at the customs in Montreal, Quebec about entering the USA. It's most likely negative stories are getting a lot of air-time while positive or non-eventful moments are getting sidelined.
Arriving in West Virginia
One of the clues, early in 2025, gave away the resort's location and name. Knowing the location increases eagerness and excitement, leading to the location. The colour of the state, Republican political-wise, added to more cancellations.
As a Canadian, I didn't experience anything unusual about West Virginia. The few people we interacted with were gracious. No signs of trouble. We did make an effort not to showcase our Canadian Flag so we didn't stand out, but I think, in retrospect, it would have been okay. The heightened media and social media are adding to the pressure to look for problems.
The group's first meet-up was at the Holiday Inn Express in Charleton, West Virginia. During the booking process, crocheters had a choice.
Crocheters were asked how far they were willing to drive during the booking process. If they drove, they didn't have to have pre-arranged airline tickets. Some people were just a few hours, while others were a day or two-day drive, depending on what they wanted to do. The Greenbrier Resort is two hours from this location, but how we got there was an added mystery.
Crocheters who drove in continued onward to Greenbrier in their own vehicles to keep their car with them. Crocheters who flew in were taken to the Amtrak Station in Charleston for a leisurely, partially narrated 3-hour ride through the gorges of West Virginia to the doorstep of Greenbrier Resort.
Mikey hadn't taken a real train before and didn't realize how spacious and comfortable the seating was. It was definitely a comfy way to travel and was really awesome.
Arrival at Greenbrier Resort
We arrived at Greenbrier Resort and socially posted in real time. Killjoys were mentioning in the social feeds how gaudy the decor was. Really disappointing, to say the least. The hotel has USA significance in what the location was and also how it was decorated after it was released from being a hospital that served 25,000 wounded soldiers from World War 2. Our rooms were once hospital rooms holding between 4 to 7 patients.
Dorothy Draper is the original designer of this hotel. The hotel has been kept all of these years with her nod to decor. It's part of the charm of this hotel. Instead of rinsing the hotel of the original look, it has stayed true to her vision and colouring.
While at the resort, each person in our party was given a $750 shopping gift card. With it, they could buy their breakfast, lunch, shopping and activities until the money ran out. The high-end retreat, the meals and activities are not on the cheap-side. It wasn't expected to be.
Bacon and eggs start at $20 USD or $28 CDN. Add a cup of coffee, several taxes applied, and an automatic tip of 20%, and a meal for two for breakfast is just over $50. You can do a breakfast buffet for $40 USD or $56 CDN per person plus drinks, which can quickly suck away a gift card.
Luckily, the resort has a shopping section with a coffee shop for quick breakfast options and drinks.
Crocheters had three activity packages included with their retreat. Those activities included but were not mandatory:
Glass Fusion
Miniature Making
Skeet Shooting
Crocheters had options to add extras to their workshops to add to their gift cards such as an elevated glass infusion dish or wind chimes.
For an added treat, an additional activity was provided such as bowling that included a variety of wings and choices of pizza. With each evening meal, crocheters were gifted two drinks of their choice whether it be alcoholic or regular beverage.
Our retreat included a 90-minute tour of the bunker that was hidden in 'plain sight' for the USA Congress. It was fascinating. We had to hand over our cell phones to enter the bunker. This was not the president's bunker but for the US Congress. Our hostess was great at explaining it to us.
Disappointment in Food
As a couple that doesn't use much salt, the salt content of the food, whether it be breakfast, lunch venues, or catering, is quite shocking and, at times, difficult to eat. Fellow crocheters told us that salt is regular and it's a Southern thing to do. Some of it is inedible if you are not used to the amount of salt. With catering, the meals are prepared in advance in a buffet style, so you cannot remove it from the food once it's in there.
I'm unsure why the salt, though. It's an ingredient that can be added to the table afterwards. It beats me, but be prepared for the salt if you don't use or eat it much.
Miniature Making
There is a mini house on the Greenbrier grounds.
Glass Blowing at Greenbrier Resort
Zip Lining Experience
Ellen, one of our guests, had a bucket list to do zip lining before her life was over. She's nearly 80 years old. She needed a mini group to do this activity. We volunteered to go with her. Neither Daniel or I had done this before.
Mikey was first to try the zip lining on the first run. He woke up the sasquatches.
We did five zip lines and one mother of all zips, Adrenaline Down the Mountain, and that was terrifying.
Training was a breeze but flying down the mountain at 65 MPH was shockingly scary.
Daniel loved the zip-lining experience.
The zip lines go into the abyss.
Overall
One of our guests, Kathy, teaches water aerobics. She usually does this with our group as a volunteer activity. Kathy did her usual morning routine but at the end of the session, the lifeguard nicely asked her not to teach aerobics with our group as it's a hotel activity that charges USD 35 per guest. It dampened Kathy's spirit but didn't ruin her vacation. The cruise ship's never had a problem with her doing this activity with our group.
Despite some challenges and feelings we had, the group came together. Some of us even did the escape rooms. The crocheters had a wonderful bonding experience.
Some of our group had mobility challenges, and the resort's free shuttles to get us around were excellent and speedy when needed.
We were able to stitch in the common spaces without any issues. It was said there were only 300 to 400 people at the resort when we were there, but it was scheduled during a weekday to keep our prices down.
In the end, it was sad to see people go but for many of our group, of the 43, only 5 people were new to the travel experience with us as our return rate is so high.
We have to rethink our strategy in the future, given the high return rate, to ensure there is always room for new crocheters to join in on the fun.
Onward to the next retreats coming ahead.
White Privilege
If you have not known the location in advance for more than a couple of weeks, you can quickly form a very different impression once you are there.
Having seen the pictures on the walls and understanding this resort is where presidents came, celebrities and other royal families, you can quickly see that it's a place where white privilege has taken place and still feels or appears like it today.
You can describe me as 'woke,' but you can see this privilege if you are opening your eyes and ears.
I wouldn't have booked this location if I knew the area and understood its past and present. While I am white, I can see it and it feels uncomfortable. As a Crochet Crowd Retreat, this didn't feel inclusive and stands against what I believe the community to be. Others in our crochet party stated the same visuals and feelings they received at the resort. This would not be a location I would recommend to visit for a personal holiday.
Daniel and I said that if this location had been disclosed, we would have learned about it pretty quickly through negative context and people's comments. It could have changed our minds.
Last Crochet Mystery Retreat
We decided after this being the second retreat to end the mystery portion of The Crochet Crowd Retreats. However, these are booked out and sold pretty much instantly. People tend to cancel with the unknown factor of where the retreat is and what to expect. While the retreats are higher-end in scale, crocheters tend to get nervous. While there is a sense of envy while the retreat is in motion, the crocheters attending didn't know where the retreat was and the activities at the time of booking.
While Michael and Daniel have a sense of adventure, others don't share this sense of wonder in letting the mystery unfold itself.
Future events will be known for location and what to expect.
